@article {263, title = {Nutritional supplementation in girls influences the growth of their children: prospective study in Guatemala.}, journal = {Am J Clin Nutr}, volume = {90}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Nov}, pages = {1372-9}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Better early childhood nutrition improves schooling, adult health, skills, and wages, but there is little evidence regarding its effect on the next generation.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed whether nutritional supplementation in children aged \<7 to 15 y affected their children\&$\#$39;s nutritional status 29-38 y later.

DESIGN: We studied 791 children 0-12 y who were offspring of 401 Guatemalan women who had participated as children in a nutritional supplementation trial in which 2 villages were randomly assigned to receive a nutritious supplement (atole) and 2 were assigned to receive a less-nutritious supplement (fresco). We compared anthropometric indicators between the offspring of mothers exposed to atole and the offspring of mothers exposed to fresco.

RESULTS: Compared with the offspring of women exposed to fresco, the offspring of women exposed to atole had a 116-g (95\% CI: 17, 215 g) higher birth weight, were 1.3-cm (0.4, 2.2 cm) taller, had a 0.6-cm (0.4, 0.9 cm) greater head circumference, had a 0.26 (0.09, 0.43) greater height-for-age z score, and had a 0.20 (0.02, 0.39) greater weight-for-age z score. The association for height differed by offspring sex. Sons of women exposed to atole were 2.0-cm (95\% CI: 1.0, 3.1 cm) taller than the sons of women exposed to fresco. Supplementation was not associated with 6 other offspring anthropometric indicators that reflect measures of adiposity. Supplementation in boys did not affect their children\&$\#$39;s anthropometric measures.

CONCLUSION: Nutritional supplementation in girls is associated with substantial increases in their offsprings\&$\#$39; (more for sons) birth weight, height, head circumference, height-for-age z score, and weight-for-age z score.

}, keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Body Height, Body Size, Body Weight, Child, Dietary Supplements, Female, Growth, Guatemala, Humans, Intelligence, Male, Middle Aged, Nutritional Status, Placebos, Pregnancy, Skinfold Thickness}, issn = {1938-3207}, doi = {10.3945/ajcn.2009.27524}, author = {Behrman, Jere R and Calderon, Maria C and Preston, Samuel H and Hoddinott, John and Martorell, Reynaldo and Stein, Aryeh D} }